Chile hopes to improve local copper smelting capacity

On July 20th, foreign media reported that Chile is the world's largest copper mining country and is promoting a strategy to expand its local copper processing capacity to reduce dependence on Asian smelters and make shipping cleaner.

The Ministry of Mines said on Thursday that it has submitted a plan to Congress to upgrade existing smelters and refineries, and to collaborate with the private sector to develop new factories.

Strengthening smelting capacity is the top priority of the left-wing government led by President Gabriel Boric. The government also hopes to gain more value in converting lithium into battery chemicals. More than half of Chile's copper production is shipped out in the form of semi-finished products, with the last smelter built in 1990. More local smelting will reduce waste caused by exporting concentrates and improve traceability. The new generation of smelters is also cleaner.

The proposal was formulated after negotiations with workers, businesses, and academia, after the state-owned mining company Codelco decided to close its Vitanas smelter for environmental reasons. The agreement establishes the leading role of the Chilean government in developing new production capacity through Codelco and another state-owned enterprise, Enami. There are currently 6 smelters in Chile, of which 4 are state-owned.

In January of this year, Codelco signed an agreement with Aurubis, a top European smelter, to explore potential areas of cooperation for smelting and circular economy projects in Chile. Enami is researching a project to upgrade the Hernan Videla Lira smelter.